Didn't We Almost Have It All?
by AgentRez
Summary: New title. My ideas for how season 6 could go down. Olitz endgame, but also focuses on Olivia and Abby's friendship, Olivia's struggle to trust her gut again, and the mystery of who is responsible for the election night madness. Do not read if you have not seen 6x01.
1. Chapter 1

_This is a new idea I had after watching 6x01. It is mildly based on the promos for 6x02, so if you don't watch promos don't read it. I have not decided yet whether this will be in addition to or replace my other story, "So Far Gone". It has an Olitz endgame but it's also about a lot of the characters finding themselves again and admitting their mistakes, because by the end of last season they had made us hate almost everyone. Unlike many Olitz shippers, I don't think Olivia has become a horrible person, although I didn't like some of the developments with her character last season. Parts of this story will also express my bitterness at both the real life election and the fact that Scandal, which I turned to as a retreat from real-world politics, forced me to relive the trauma of Hillary's defeat. Reviews are sincerely appreciated._

 _The first part takes place a day or two after the end of 6x01._

"What is it, Abby?" the president asks when she enters his office.

"I know you told me to put it to rest, but I really think Olivia and Mellie are right about Cyrus. Look, I'm a Democrat, and I don't expect a job in either administration or even want one for that matter. I don't have a vested interest here, but I think they're right."

The president sighs, exasperated.

"Don't you ever get tired of letting her use your friendship to manipulate you?"

"Excuse me?"

"Olivia. She knows I'm done letting her cloud my judgment, so she appealed to you to come in here and try to convince me, right?"

Abby looks shocked. "I can't believe that after all this time you would think me incapable of thinking for myself, and assume that me expressing my opinion means I must be doing Olivia's bidding just because I happen to think she's right."

"I'm sorry, Abby. You're right. That was out of line."

Abby chuckles. "You really can't see the irony here, can you? You don't realize that you would think she's right too if you hadn't let Cyrus manipulate you into driving her away so many times."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Come on. Like you don't know."

"No, I don't know. What the hell are you trying to imply?" he demands testily.

"Cyrus tried to come between you and Liv from the second he found out about you. He let you think she was the mastermind behind Defiance instead of the last holdout. He staged an attempt to kill her because he wanted to scare her away from you. He went behind your back to have the CIA kill her when she was being held hostage until he recognized Stephen on the camera. Now, you could be forgiven for thinking that he was trying to protect your presidency all those times, but I still don't understand how you let him manipulate you the last time."

"The last time?"

"Last year. After you and Olivia became public, Cyrus was yet again feeling his power over you threatened. He knew for weeks about Olivia's part in letting her father out of prison but he got David to arrest her and feigned surprise. And then he used that to manipulate you into questioning whether she was only in it for the power. You knew it wasn't true…you know Olivia well enough to know it wasn't true…and yet Cyrus preyed upon your insecurities stemming from years of being married to a woman who cared more about you as a politician than as a person and convinced you to give Liv that ridiculous test."

"And what ridiculous test would that be?"

"Moving her in without asking her. Shutting her out of your inner circle and not letting her help with real problems even when we really needed her. Making her spend her days picking out teacups and dig up cookie recipes to prove that she was with you because she loved you and not because of the power it gave her. As if jeopardizing her career and subjecting herself to public ridicule by telling the whole world she was your mistress weren't proof enough!"

Fitz grimaces angrily. It is clear Abby has touched a nerve. "You are WAY out of line here, Abby! You're…"

"Fired? What is this, the fifth time? You can't fire me, because I quit. But before I go I just want you to know…I was with Liv the night before she was supposed to testify before the committee, and I have never seen her so stressed or dejected. She was seriously considering committing perjury because she couldn't stomach the thought of marrying you for the wrong reasons, and she loved you too much to let you be impeached. Her words, not mine."

She storms out. Fitz just stands there, looking stunned by Abby's last revelation.


	2. Chapter 2

**30 MINUTES LATER**

Fitz comes to Abby's office as she is clearing out.

"May I come in?" he asks.

Abby shrugs. "You're the president of the United States and we're in the White House. I can't exactly say no, can I?"

Fitz chuckles and walks in. "You're not fired," he says firmly. "And I'm not accepting your resignation. I hired you for this job in part because I trust you to give it to me straight. That said, I stand by my original assessment that you weren't being objective before."

Abby looks surprised. "What I said about Liv wasn't fair," Fitz admits. "I don't think she's manipulating you, at least not consciously. But I think she's your friend, and you're worried about what Mellie losing will do to her once she's forced to face reality. I can't fault you for that, because the truth is, I'm worried about her too," he admits reluctantly. He doesn't have to ask her to keep that between them.

"But I am the president of the United States, and I can't let being worried about Liv cloud my judgment. I've made that mistake too many times already. I need to be objective about this, and as my chief of staff I expect you to do the same, do you understand?"

Abby nods.

"So now, let me ask you: without thinking about Liv, what is your assessment of the situation? What does your gut say?"

Abby thinks long and hard before responding.

"My gut says Cyrus has obvious motive...so obvious that he could be an easy fall guy. And it doesn't fully make sense...if he were going to have Vargas killed so he could assume the presidency, why do it now? Why not wait until after he had a clear line of succession to the presidency?"

Fitz nods, her assessment confirming his.

"But my gut also says that something doesn't add up," Abby continues. "I've been going over it in my head for the past 48 hours, and the event was heavily secured. Secret Service ran everyone who got into the event through a metal detector and did background checks on everyone with VIP access. I don't see how a single individual with no apparent resources or connections to any government or organization that would have the resources could have gotten a gun in and gotten into position to be able to take that good of a shot. So maybe it wasn't Cyrus...maybe it was...but I think Liv's right that we haven't done enough to investigate."

The president buries his head in his hands, exasperated because he knows she is probably right.

"What do you think about the argument that it's dangerous to keep investigating, that the country needs closure and needs certainty about who the next president is going to be?"

"It's a legitimate concern. But I think the investigation can be done on the DL, while publicly you continue to stand behind Cyrus unless and until the FBI finds something that gives you a reason not to."

Fitz nods, contemplating for a moment. "Get whatever David has on the investigation. Then call Liv and get her back here," he instructs. "Better yet, have Secret Service sneak her into the Residence. Let me know when she's there." Abby looks caught off guard for a moment, until she realizes what the president is thinking.

* * *

 _I hope you enjoyed this installment. I will try to write the next one soon unless tonight's episode screws it up too much. It is always hard to write fanfic for any show in the middle of the season. Reviews are always appreciated. I have no idea why it keeps putting the random crap below this, so ignore.  
_

XFanfiction Tools Options

Main Colors Word counts Misc.

Dates

Color Dates Show Relative Dates

Date Format: US - 12/31/2000 UK - 31/12/2000

Separator:

Dates order: Updated-Published Published-Updated

Auto Loading

Stories: No autoloading Autoload next chapter Autoload full story

Show title for first chapter Hide chapters drop-down list Autoload lists

Story Info

Words to mark:

\- pipe-sign ("|") separated

?

Story Languages:

\- pipe-sign ("|") separated

?

Blacklisted Words:

\- pipe-sign ("|") separated

Low word count:

Don't show stories with lower word count

Combine reviews link and count Shorten favs and follows Show Posting Frequency Color Complete Stories

Story Status (click in the text boxes to open a color chooser)

Shade 1: Shade 5: Shade 2: Shade 6: Shade 3: Shade 7: Shade 4: Complete:

Marked Words Colors

Text Color:

Word Counts

Color word counts Threshold 1: Threshold 5: Threshold 2: Threshold 6: Threshold 3: Threshold 7: Threshold 4: Threshold 8:

Misc.

Allow select all with ctrl-a Change fake links to real links

Filters format: Default Always visible (right) Always visible (right, don't follow) Always visible (top)

Fanfiction Tools by Ewino

XFanfiction Tools Options

Main Colors Word counts Misc.

Dates

Color Dates Show Relative Dates

Date Format: US - 12/31/2000 UK - 31/12/2000

Separator:

Dates order: Updated-Published Published-Updated

Auto Loading

Stories: No autoloading Autoload next chapter Autoload full story

Show title for first chapter Hide chapters drop-down list Autoload lists

Story Info

Words to mark:

\- pipe-sign ("|") separated

?

Story Languages:

\- pipe-sign ("|") separated

?

Blacklisted Words:

\- pipe-sign ("|") separated

Low word count:

Don't show stories with lower word count

Combine reviews link and count Shorten favs and follows Show Posting Frequency Color Complete Stories

Story Status (click in the text boxes to open a color chooser)

Shade 1: Shade 5: Shade 2: Shade 6: Shade 3: Shade 7: Shade 4: Complete:

Marked Words Colors

Text Color:

Word Counts

Color word counts Threshold 1: Threshold 5: Threshold 2: Threshold 6: Threshold 3: Threshold 7: Threshold 4: Threshold 8:

Misc.

Allow select all with ctrl-a Change fake links to real links

Filters format: Default Always visible (right) Always visible (right, don't follow) Always visible (top)

Fanfiction Tools by Ewino


End file.
